Latour's premonition that Vaillant would never return to work in New Mexico is proven correct. The Vicar returns to Santa Fe to recuperate from illnesses and to attend the formal proceedings marking Latour's elevation to Archbishop. Vaillant's life in Colorado is hard and cold, and he misses the mountains of the Southwest. He suffers permanent injury when his wagon falls into a ravine. His parishioners in Colorado, though far more wealthy, are less giving than the peasants of New Mexico, causing Vaillant to travel frequently to Santa Fe to raise money for his church in Colorado. When the residents of Santa Fe bestow ample gifts on Vaillant, Latour states that he'll need a cart to deliver his cargo to Colorado. The following morning, a cart is delivered. The two men say their goodbyes, with the Archbishop declaring the Vicar "a great harvester of souls, without pride and without shame."
The Archbishop spends his retirement years on an estate four miles north of Santa Fe. He bought the acreage before his retirement so that he could enjoy the orchard he planted. He also builds an adobe house and a chapel. As a retiree, Latour trains missionary priests. He spends much of his time gardening. He receives Bernard Ducrot, a young Seminarian who becomes a good friend to the Archbishop during his last years. He contracts a fever and begins to speak nothing but French. He asks the new Archbishop for permission to return to his study in Santa Fe, and his request is granted. When he returns to the city, he bemoans the number of wood-frame houses that have become more prominent. His cathedral has been built, and Latour observes the building by the light of the Southwest sunset.
Latour has come to love the New World more than the Old, and he prepares to die in his adopted homeland. Ducrot and Magdalena look after the Archbishop as his health continues to fail. He ponders the hardships of the missionaries in New Mexico, comparing them to the deprivations of St. Paul and other early Christians. He considers the hardships of the missionaries to be greater due to the greater distances they have traveled from their homelands.
